Tell me you’re a RINO without telling me you’re a RINO.
That’s what I hear when I see the Democrats uniting to protect House Speaker Mike Johnson.
And so Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is ramping things up with a new move to push for a vote to remove Johnson (R-LA).
Teaming up with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Greene, along with Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), is set to gather at the Capitol Wednesday morning to announce their next steps in this push.
This comes on the heels of House Democrat’s endorsement of Johnson, where they made it clear they plan to block any motion to remove him.
Apparently they love him so much.
And the friend of my enemy is…?
My friend?
Or an enemy?
For his sake, he better be doing some kind of 5D chess move and infiltrating the Dems.
House Dems vow to tank MTG’s bid to oust Republican Speaker Mike Johnson https://t.co/H5JTLHVywk Ofc they did, he's working for them!
— Terry Long Sr. (@TerryLongSr1) May 1, 2024
Breitbart reports:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is taking another step towards forcing a vote that could remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who with Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) have publicly called for Johnson to step aside or face a motion to vacate, are assembling at the Capitol Wednesday morning to announce their next steps.
The duo’s escalation follows House Democrat leadership’s Tuesday endorsement of Johnson, in which they announced their intent to table any motion to vacate. The Democrat statement praised Johnson for partnering with a “bipartisan coalition” of President Biden and “traditional Republicans” to “[push] back against MAGA extremism” – a characterization of Johnson unlikely to find favor with Donald Trump – and unleash tens of billions in aid to Ukraine and Gaza.
Massie said he and Greene will lay out Wednesday how the Democrat endorsement “affects the motion to vacate the uniparty Speaker.”
Greene and Massie have echoed conservative complaints – that extend beyond the most rightward flank of the House Republican Conference – that Johnson has abandoned his earlier pledges and instead advanced, even fought for, President Joe Biden and Democrats’ agenda.
In only six months as Speaker, Johnson rammed through a multi-trillion dollar two-part ominbus spending bill that funded almost all Biden’s priorities, flip-flopped to kill a requirement for intelligence agencies to obtain a warrant before surveilling Americans, and – perhaps most painful for conservatives – surrendered on a months-long pledge never to move foreign aid before taking action on border security.
ADVERTISEMENTEnsuring the Foreign Surveillance Act passed without a warrant requirement and gifting tens of billions in aid to Ukraine were perhaps Biden’s greatest priorities of the second half of his term. Johnson delivered Biden his desired outcome on both the warrant requirement – in which Johnson was the deciding vote – and Ukraine funding over the objections of a majority of his own party.
Even before Johnson caved on Ukraine funding, Republicans have openly speculated about what deal Johnson could have made with Democrats to save his speakership from Republicans increasingly frustrated with his advancement of a Democrat agenda.
“What slimy back room deal did Johnson make for the Democrats’ support?” Greene asked.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes (D-NY) said Tuesday that while Johnson’s surrender on Ukraine aid earned him goodwill with Democrats, they should insist for more – a sentiment expressed by other Democrats in public and private.
“I don’t think we give these things for free,” she said. “I do think that the vote on Ukraine aid has been helpful to many members of this caucus,” continuing, “This is an important moment for Democrats to use this opportunity to assert our priorities.”
Greene and Massie huddled on the House floor with other Republican lawmakers Tuesday after a round of votes concluded for around a half hour before sliding out a side door past reporters and into the House Parliamentarian’s office. They mostly ignored reporter inquiries after exiting ten minutes later, with Greene saying simply “Plans are still developing.”
They announced their upcoming press conference soon after.
Despite widespread Republican frustration with Johnson, many might choose to wait until November to replace him.
ADVERTISEMENT“We are passing the Democratic agenda each and every day that we’re here,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) lamented. “We have a slim majority in the House, and it’s — everything’s being passed overwhelmingly with Democrat support. So it makes no difference to me if it’s Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker or Mike Johnson.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), among the conservatives most publicly critical of Johnson, suggested that Johnson has already given away the farm, and that removing him now with few marquee legislative items left this year might achieve little.
“We’ve been moving legislation with a significant amount of Democrat votes,” he said, but “We’ve already moved most of the things. So now we’re just trying to figure out as a family how we move forward.”
Greene and Massie’s plan is unknown for now.
Here’s MTG going off on Biden and Mike Johnson.
The only thing I disagree with her on is that Trump winning is not a guarantee.
His winning is inevitable.
Republicans in Washington want to push things off and say, “Oh, President Trump will fix it.”
No, we have a job to do right now!
We have to stop the Biden agenda that Mike Johnson has delivered.
Johnson fully funded the DOJ that is coming after President Trump with 91… pic.twitter.com/0fhzbJ9F3R
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 22, 2024
Stay tuned for more Wednesday morning.
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